Portable electric light.



C. HUBERT.

v PORTABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT, APPLICATION FILED MAY 12, 1915.

Patented June 6,

CONRAD HUBERT, OF HULE'IT, NEW YORK.

ronrABLE nLscTnro LIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Julie 6, 1916.

Application filedMay 12, 1915. Serial No. 27,486.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CONRAD HUBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hulett,in the county of Nassau and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Electric Lights, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

, My invention relates to portable electric lights and relates particularly to those known in the trade as house-lamps.

Objects of my invention are to improve the general construction of this type of electric light, more particularly the circuit completing means, including the connections between the battery and the lamp.

General objects of my invention are simplicity of construction, inexpensiveness 5f manufacture, durability, certainty of operation and of maintenance in operable con dition, and convenience of use.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter appear.

My invention includes features of construction and combinations of parts as will appear from the following description.

I shall now describe the house lamp illus trated in the accompanying drawings embodying my invention and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section from front to back with parts in elevation. Fig. 2 is a rear view with-the casing cover and battery removed but showing the battery terminals in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on a plane indicated by the lines 33 of Figs. 1 and 2 as seen from above. Fig. i is an enlarged vertical section of the circuit controlling means on a plane indicated by the line 4% of Fig. 1 as viewed from the right. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on a plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. l as viewed from below. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the contact member of the circuit controller. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the upper angular circuit completing plate appearing at the top and right in Fig. 2.

The house lamp embodying my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings has a flattened rectangular sheet metal battery-containing casing 1 shown as closed at the front and open at the rear and as provided at the back with a sheet metal closure band or ring 8 screw-threaded over the outer end f the flaring metal support 5, and inward from the lens? a concave metallic reflector 9 is supported in electrically conductive relation with the flaring support 5. A metallic screw-threaded lamp socket 10 is supported centrally by the reflector 9 in electrically conductive relation therewith and projects inwardly therefrom in alinement with an opening in the front wall of the casing 1. An ordinary miniature incandescent lamp 11 is shown as screwed into the lamp socket 10 so that its central contact terminal is exposed at the inside of the casing 1 through the opening therein, and the other contact terminal of the lamp is in electrically conductive relation with the metal casing 1 through the lamp socket 10 and intermediate parts. The metal casing isadapted to removably contain a battery, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, having cells 12 shown in elevation, and an outer insulating covering or jacket 13, shown in section, which insulates the battery cells 12 from the metal casing.

The circuit completing means between the battery and the lamp and involving my invention will now be described.

An insulating plate -14 is supported at the inside of the front wall of the casing l and substantially covers this front wall at the inside of the casing, the insulating plate 14 having, as shown, an opening therein registering withthe opening in the front of the casing so as to leave the central terminal of the lamp 11 exposedthrough the insulating plate 14. Metal strips 15, 16 and 17 are firmly secured, as by soldering, to the inside of the metal casing 1 and form guideways. The metal strip is of le -shape transversely forming a guide channel and is secured to the side wall of the casing 1 at the left as viewed from the rear, of the casing in Fig. 2 and in spaced relation to the top wall of the casing; the strip 16 is also of channel shape, but has additionally a downwardly projecting flange which is slightly spaced from the adjacent side wall of the casing to form a guide groove or channel and is secured to the other side wall of the casing opposite to the strip and at the same height in spaced relation to the top wall of the casing 1; and the strip 17 is of angular L-shape and is secured. to the bottom of the casing 1 below the strip 16 and is slightly spaced from the adjacent side wall to form a guide groove. It will be noted that the three strips 15, 16 and 1'? form two sets or pairs of guideways, one pair of such guideways being near but spaced from the top of the casing and the other pair of guideways being adjacent to the side wall of the casing 1 as seen in Fig. 52.

An upright supporting plate 18 of insulating material is mounted in the guideways formed at the side of the casing by the lower guide strip 17 and by the downwardly projecting flange of the upper right guide strip 16 and a'horizontal supporting plate 19 of insulating material is mounted in the upper set of guideways, formed by the U-shaped guide strip 15 at the left and by the channel portion of the guide strip 16 at the right, so that the horizontal insulating plate 19 forms a partition across the casing 1 in spaced relation to the top wall of the casing. The upright insulating plate 18 and horizontal insulating plate 19 may be prevented from dropping out of their guideways by forcing the material of the guide strips 15, 16 and 17 down upon these insulating plates so to inch or grip them adjacent to the open back of the casing 1. The front insulating plate 1% will be held in place by the insulating plates 18 and 19 and. also at the top thereof by the inner ends of the guide strips 15 and 1S whicln in the construction illus trated in the drawings, are spaced to this extent away from the front wall of the casing 1. terposed between theupright insulating supporting plate 18 and the adjacent side wall of the casing 1 A right-angularly bent sheet metal plate 21 has a lower and forwardly projecting end portion firmly secured as by means of rivets 22 to the lower portion of the upright insulating supporting plate 18 at the inside and near the lower end thereof, the outer ends or heads of the rivets being insulated from the adjacent wall of the casing by the intervening thin insulating plate 20. The inner angular portion of the metal plate 21 projects transversely to the left and also upward diagonally to the left at the inside of the front insulating plate, by which it-is ins; ted from the frontwall of the casing 1. The lower transversely projecting portion of the metal plate 21 is in position to he touched or engaged by one of the battery contact terminals 23 which is shown as turned over at the ouside of the insu- A thin insulating plate is inmesses lating battery cover 13. This lower portion of the metal plate 21 is preferably bowed or bent slightly rearward or outward as indicated to assure a good electrical connection, The upper end of the metal plate 21 covers the opening in the front insulating plate 1 1- and at this point is provided at the inside with an indentation forming at the outside a rounded projection which is in contact with the central terminal of the lamp 11 as appears in Fig. 1.

An upper right-angularly bent metal plate 24- has a forwardly extending horizontal portion shown as secured by means of rivets to the upper side of the horizontal insulating plate 19 at the right end thereof and the angular metal. plate 21 has a depending" or downwardly projecting portion at the inside of the front insulating plate 14- in position to be touched or engaged by the other battery terminal 26 which is also shown as bent over at the outside of the insulating battery cover 13, and this depending portion of the metal plate 2-1 is preferably crimped or bent outward along a middle vertical line as indicated to assure a good electrical connection. The horizontal portion of the metal plate 24 is shown as provided with a free curved contact portion which projects toward the middle of the casing, as appears in Fig. 2, for cooperation with a circuit controller now to be described and forming a part of the circuit completing means be tween the battery and the lamp. \Vhen the hinged closure or casing back 2 is in closed positionit presses upon the insulating covering 13 of the battery and holds the bat.- tery contact terminals 23 and 26 firmly in contact with the'respective metal plates 21 and 2%., as, appears in Figs. 1 and 3.

A stationary bearing member or plug 27 is provided with a shoulder at the outside of the top of the casing 1 and projects downward through the top wall of the casing to the inside thereof'where it. is provided with v a retaining nut 28, a stiff washer 29 being shown as interposed between the nut 28 and the thin wall of the casing for-more firmly and rigidly holding the bearing member 27 in place on the casing. The bearing 'member 27 is provided throughout its length with a bore in which is journaled an actuating stem 30, this bore and the actuating stem being of larger diameter in their outer portions to provide spaced opposing shoulders as appears in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings. The actuating stem 30 is mountedfor complete rotative and limited longitudinal movement in the bearing member 27. The

inward longitudinal movement of the actuating stem 30 is limited by an outer knurled head 31 which is provided for manually effecting the rotation of the actuating stem 30 and the outward longitudinal movement of the actuating stem 30 is limited by a cylindrical pin 32 which passes through the inner reduced portion of the actuating stem inward from the inner end of the bearing member 27. A coiled thrust spring 33 is housed in the bearing member '27 in the enlarged portion of thebore thereof surrounding the reduced portion of the actuating stem 30 and acts between the opposed shoulders on the bearing member and actuating stem to press the actuating stem outward. The inner end of the bearing member 27 18 provided with a plurality, shown as four,

of cam-faced radial notches, as shown in the drawings, particularly in Fig. 5. These notches conform to the cylindrical surface of the pin 32 and are of a depth which is somewhat less than half the diameter of the pin, the rounded surface of which forms a cam cooperativewith the cam faces of the notches for yieldingly holding the actuating stem 30 at any one of the four different rotative positions corresponding to the cam notches in the inner end of the bearing member 27, these notches, in the construction shown in the drawings, being spaced ninety degrees apart. A contact member 3-1 shown as having two oppositely projecting radial contact arms is fixed upon the inner end of the actuating stem 30 and is shown as screw-threaded thereon tight up against the cam pin 32 and the contact member 34 is firmly and securely held in place by a jam nut 35.

The radially projecting arms of the contact member'34 are adapted to engage the projecting free contact end of the upper angular contact plate 24 in two of the rotative positions of the actuating stem 30, one of these positions being shown in the drawings. It will be readily understood that contact of the contact member 34 with the metal plate '24 will complete the circuit of the battery through the lamp. In the two other rotative positions of the actuating stem 30 the radially projecting contact arms of the rotative contact member 34 will be at right angles to the circuit closing position of the contact member 34 illustrated in the drawings and therefore the contact member 34 will be out of contact with the contact end of the metal plate 24, resulting in the open condition of the circuit as will be readily understood. The cooperative ,cam members yieldingly hold the actuating stem 30 and the contact member 34 at the open circuit or at the closed circuit position, reliably assur ing the maintenance of either the open circuit or closed circuit condition of the circuit and permitting the opening or closing of the circuitat will merely by imparting rotative movement to the actuating stem 30 by means of its outer peripherally roughened or knurled head 31. The bearing member or plug 27 may be rotatively adjusted to secure the correct position of cooperative relation of the contact member 34 with the adjacent contact end of the metal plate 24, and may be firmly clamped in this position by the nut 28.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in'the construction shown in the drawings and above particularly de scribed within the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim:

l. A portable electric light having, in combination, a battery-containing casing having an electrically conductive casing part provided with guideuays at the inside of the casing, a support of insulating material mounted in the guideways, and an electrically conductive circuit completing member carried by such support.

2. A portable electric light comprising an electrically conductive battery containing casing provided with guideways at the inside thereof, means for supporting an electric lamp. on the casing with one of its terminals in electrically conductive connection with the casing, a supporting plate of insulating material mounted in the guideways, a second supporting plateoi' insulating material mounted in another of the guideways,

an electrically conductive plate supported by "one of said insulating plates in contact with the other terminal of the lamp and in position to be touched by one of the battery contact terminals, :1 second electrically conductive plate supported by the other said insulating plate in position to be touched by the other battery contact terminal to form an electrically conductive extension thereof,

and a circuit closer on the casing for electrically conductively connecting the casing to said second electrically conductive plate.

3.'A portable electric light comprising a substantially rectangular fiat electrically conductive battery-containing casing open at the back, an electrically conductive lamp socket projecting from the front of the cas ing in electrically conductive relation therewith, an insulating plate at the inside of the front wall of the casing, the casing and the insulating plate having openings therein for exposing the central terminal of an incandescent lamp at the inside of the casing, the casing having internal projections providing two pairs of guideways for receiving the ends of insulating plates, one pair of such and projecting at the inside of the insulating plate at the front of the casing into contact with the exposed central terminal of the lamp and in position to be touched by one of the contact terminals of the battery,

:1 second electrically conductive angular plate supported by the horizontal insulating plate and projecting downward at the inside of the front insulating plate in position to be touched by the other contact ter minal of the battery and having a portion exposed above its horizontal supporting insulating plate for engagement by a circuit memes 

